Dr. Louis-Marie Malbec, a visiting research from IFP Energies nouvelles (an energy and transportation research center headquartered in France) teamed with CRF researchers Mark Musculus and Ethan Eagle to develop and apply new diagnostics for fuel mixing and heat transfer. The goal of the joint project is to advance the understanding of spray, combustion, and emissions-formation processes in diesel engines by applying laser-based and imaging diagnostics in an optically accessible, heavy-duty, direct-injection diesel engine that can operate under real-world conditions.

After developing and applying a novel infrared-emission diagnostic to measure fuel-jet mixing in an optical engine, the team advanced an optical heat-transfer diagnostic and compared its performance to more conventional thermocouple-based measurements. These accomplishments help to further Sandia goals of improving the science-base underlying efficient, low-emission engines. Dr. Malbec has returned to IFP Energies nouvelles, where he will continue to analyze the data acquired at the CRF and prepare scientific publications to disseminate the results of his work.

Andrea Gruber
3/9/15 – 3/25/15
Jackie Chen

Accurate prediction of flame flashback in mixing ducts, particularly for highly reactive fuels containing hydrogen, has been a challenge in the development of lean premixed combustion technology in stationery gas turbine applications. To shed light on this issue, Andrea Gruber from SINTEF Energy Research in Norway has worked for several years with Jackie Chen at the CRF on direct numerical simulation (DNS) of premixed flame flashback in turbulent channel flows. Building on their past work, they’ve recently turned their focus to using DNS to understand the fundamental Œturbulence-chemistry interactions that characterize flashback of preheated hydrogen-air flames in channels. During his 2015 visit, Andrea introduced an additional parameter—fuel stratification in the reactants—that influences flashback at the wall and in the bulk gases. Another collaborator, Ed Richardson from University of Southhampton, England, is adding to this work by analyzing highly stratified premixed flame propagation.